The vibrant community of Indian students in Italy is growing at a rapid pace as Italy offers a number of opportunities for higher studies. The Consulate General of India in Milan is receiving increasing number of requests from the Indian students and their parents for help in finding accommodation, expediting stay permit in Italy and so on. Please note that these functions are outside Consulate's remit. However, the Consulate is happy to bring you a general guide to help you starting from the first step to join Italian educational institutions, required documentation, Italian scholarships, locating accommodation, opening a bank account, filing an application for the stay permit, safeguarding yourself against frauds, useful contact numbers etc. The Consulate would like to stress that the information appearing in the following guide has been collected from various sources and does not reflect the views of the Consulate or of Government of India. The Consulate would not be responsible in any way if use of this information results in any material or monetary loss or for any disputes arising out of such use. The students are advised to exercise their discretion while using the information provided in the guide.

As a word of caution, the Consulate would like to urge the Indian students aspiring to study in Italy to exercise abundant caution while making payments (even through bank transfers) for accommodation or other services without ensuring their actual existence on ground. There have been cases reported to the Consulate in which Indian students have lost money to fraudsters. The deals made through contacts on social media platforms always call from extreme caution. It may be underscored that it is highly unlikely to recover the money lost in such international transactions.

There is another way in which fraudsters try to extort money from Indians living in Italy. They spoof telephone numbers of the Indian Consulate in Milan, Indian Embassy in Rome, Italian Foreign Ministry, Italian Police/Immigration authorities and call the Indian nationals threatening them to pay up money or face deportation/arrest. The telephone number appearing on the phone may be of any one of these offices. Further, in order to lend credibility to their claim that they are calling from any of these offices, they may even tell the call recipient that he/she can check through internet search that the number appearing on their mobile phone belongs to one of these offices. In case one receives such call, there is no need to panic. Just ignore the caller and report the matter to the Indian Embassy in Rome or to the Consulate General of India in Milan. If the caller pesters you by repeated calls, you may switch off your phone for some time. Please remember that government offices do not ask for money by calling people on their phones.

The Consulate would also like to urge you to be careful with your belongings i.e. passports, money and other valuables, while you are moving around. Be very careful of the situations (such as somebody accidentally dropping his/her suitcase or purse from which the things scatter on the floor and you may try to help the person putting them back etc,.) which may have been created on purpose by a person or a group of people working together to distract your attention to steal your valuables.

The reason for mentioning these incidents is not to frighten you or your parents. These incidents are not typical of Italy. These can happen anywhere. The idea is just to caution you. Fraudsters try to dupe people through several ways which may be different from what has been mentioned above. Always remember that caution is your best protection.

The Consulate operates a 24X7 helpline (3881647527) which can be reached in case of any emergency. For general enquiries you may reach us at cul.milan@mea.gov.in. Your feedback on the guide will help us improve it further.

We, at the Consulate General of India in Milan, wish you a safe and successful stay in Italy.